The Future of the Travel Industry

It can be hard to predict what will be happening in the world of travel, but that’s exactly why we’ve rounded up some predictions from industry experts. Read on for opinions from some of the industry’s top thinkers…

Cheaper flights

A Luxury Travel Blog has been called “one of the world’s best travel blogs” by the Daily Telegraph, and is considered by Travelocafe’s research to be the single most influential travel blog in the world – so obviously we needed to see what was on the mind of founder Paul Johnson. Paul says, “Economy airlines might not be getting more comfortable, but with reduced fuel prices projected for the next few years and increased passenger loads for many airlines, it could be getting less expensive than ever to get away.”

More WiFi

It seems mad these days that there are still hotels that don’t offer WiFi to guests without absurd fees, but it seems that might be changing. Paul predicts, “As our WiFi demands continue to grow, hotels that fail to offer reliable, free WiFi will suffer and in-flight WiFi is something we’ll see people using more and more. Upgraded communications satellites are going to make on-board WiFi more reliable as well as facilitate the streaming of live TV, and increased competition should help to drive down prices.”

The sharing economy will continue to expand

Jason Batansky from Aspiring Gentleman has been travelling full-time for the past decade, and has certainly seen the trends come and go. His prediction is that the sharing economy – where people borrow or rent accommodation, cars, bicycles, and more – will continue it’s rapid takeover of traditional services.

“I’m not just talking about the obvious services like AirBNB for apartment rentals or Uber for taxis. Sharing economy ideas that people most have either not considered could exist or long-standing ideas that are only now becoming socially acceptable will start to come into prominence. One example is the ride-share service taking over Europe, Bla Bla Car. I personally used this on a recent trip and paid less than the cost of a bus ticket, arrived faster than most buses or trains, and made great conversation with the drivers and passengers. A second service is FlightCar, which allows car owners to park at the airport at no cost and rent out their vehicle while they’re away. There are plenty of services taking off nowadays – embrace them.”

You’ll have more destinations to choose from than ever

Jason also believes that smaller destinations will be able to market themselves better as digital reach expands, meaning that there will be more choices for travellers of where to visit.

“Travel to less common holiday destinations will become a growing trend as these smaller destinations are able to better market themselves. With professional travel bloggers collectives like iAmbassador and other ways to creatively market a destination, it’s now even more likely that the ordinary traveller will connect with the destination that best suits their interests – rather than those spots on the cover of the newspaper’s travel section.”

What do you think are going to be some of the biggest changes to the travel industry? We’d love to hear your predictions – leave them in the comments below, or let us know on Facebook or Twitter!